It’s a New Year and it’s that time again to tackle the New Year’s Resolution question.
As is now becoming The Chris Brogan Tradition, it’s time to pick three words that will represent your goals in the New Year.
The three words that I have chosen are based on what I want to change from last year, and what I think will be needed to make sure I accomplish meaningful personal objectives in 2012, and that I no longer feel like I’m just waiting as days get checked off the calendar like a prison sentence being served. The (perhaps trite) spirit of my three words is this: No longer passive spectator for me; it is high time to be an active participant in living life.
My three words for 2012 are as follows: Read more »
Self expression isn’t always easy. Maybe that’s why I admire those who openly exhibit an apparently unshakable confidence to be themselves.
It’s easy not to realize that behind outwardly confident people there are probably many encounters with ignorant people than most people are even aware.
It seems that in life, it’s almost impossible to escape criticism entirely. The schoolyard “Sticks and Stones” saying and the online advice of “Don’t feed the trolls” is only a small part of the story. Read more »
I don’t have too many major regrets in life; at least not yet. 
In the past, I believe that I did what I knew best at the time. Not that I wouldn’t go back and do some things differently. But, since I didn’t know then what I do know now, I feel I wouldn’t have known to make other choices to get other outcomes at that time…if that makes sense?
At some motivational-type of events, activities like fire-eating or fire-walking are life changing experiences for some people. Those experiences are actually designed to be just that. Read more »
We all have bad days at work. When we do, it is not uncommon to entertain the thought of: “do I stay, or do I go?”
Recently I came across strong arguments to support either option.
From “don’t quit your job…never be without an income stream”, to “appreciate what you have until you have a plan to go after something better,” to the enticing: “Oh, go for it, don’t live a life with regrets.” Read more »
In the current economy many people are cutting back on “extras”, or at least attempting to. But are we as frugal as we think we are?
Maybe we should start by getting clear on what frugality means to each of us. As we know, frugality can have a full range of definitions and connotations which range from the negative, i.e., being a Scrooge-like miser, to the positive, i.e., being a monk-like minimalist.
In general, as expressed in this blog post entitled: “Frugality – Not Just for the Poor”, frugality is described by The Frugal Goddess as a positive, i.e., “it is about getting the maximum out of available resources.” Read more »
Some people have no shyness whatsoever about offering their advice and opinions, writing books and articles, commenting, or expressing their thoughts in any variety of ways. Others are just the opposite. (And, there is a whole gamut of personalities that fall anywhere in between those two extremes.)
Conventional wisdom states that if you know more about a particular subject than someone else (or if you have a particular insight based on your unique experiences), then that qualifies you (and sometimes even obligates you) to share that information with others. Yet many of us don’t feel that that is enough of a reason to do so.
For those of us who have gotten used to “holding our tongues”, here are four reasons why we may be doing so, and why I believe we should re-consider our reticence. Can you relate to any or all of the following four points, too? Read more »
Doing things differently every once in a while is a good thing.
The more options you have for doing something, the more paths/choices you are aware you have when or if obstacles get in your way.
I’m not just stating these two points to philosophize to you, but more as a segue to sharing two things I unexpectedly learned about today.
Let me back up a bit. I’m taking a mini-MBA program in Digital Marketing at Rutgers Center for Management Development. While I probably should blog about the awesome instructors we have each week, or about the perfectly relevant topics we cover each week, I’m not going to do that because that’s not what this blog is about (though I couldn’t exactly define what I do write about either, but that’s beside the point for now.)
Read more »
I really don’t like to hate. But there is one thing in particular that I just hate that I love. It is: Diet Coke.
I admit, I love Diet Coke. I love the brand. I love sipping it in the afternoon (especially around the 3 o’clock hour); often I even love it with breakfast. I love the Olympics for which they are a sponsor. I love the sound of the can opening. I love the feel of the plastic 20 ounce bottles. I love the red color in the logo. I love it over ice. I could go on and on… Read more »
The latest “rule” about the “new economy” and the “new job market” (or, rather, on how to take advantage of the economic downturn by becoming an entrepreneur) seems to be: “get ahead by breaking the rules”.
I’ve always found that advice to be a bit suspect or a bit too “convenient”, overshadowing the role that luck and selective memories often play.
Of course, that’s not to suggest that we don’t benefit from the “learning opportunity” of missteps, whether due to breaking the rules or not. However, when it comes to rules, sometimes the “learning” is that some rules aren’t meant to be broken in a willy-nilly way. Read more »
In this fast-changing world of ours, decisiveness is clearly the name of the game.
In the book “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell, we learn that those with expertise in a particular subject matter can be quite accurate in their quick instinctual gut reactions to certain claims or situations.
And, conversely, those without expertise in a particular area of focus generally don’t fair so well with this kind of quick decision-making. Hence, the phrase “rushing to judgment” doesn’t have such a positive connotation.
“Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.” ~Brian Tracy
So, what do we make of this common advice that: “making any decision is better than making no decision?” We could all probably readily agree that it is true that inaction, like procrastination, has let many high-potential projects go uncompleted or forever remain un-started. But should that really be the only criteria we are considering here? Read more »
